A comparison of internal fixation and hemiarthroplasty in the management of un- or minimally displaced hip fractures in patients over 60 years old

Cannulated Screws or Hemiarthroplasty for Femoral Neck Fractures: Is There a Mortality Difference?

OBJECTIVES

To determine the difference in mortality and reoperation rate between femoral neck fractures (FNFx) treated with cannulated screw (CS) fixation or hemiarthroplasty (HA).

METHODS

DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

Institutional registry data from a single Level I trauma center.

PATIENT SELECTION CRITERIA

Inclusion criteria were patients older than 60 years with FNFx (OTA/AO 31-B) who underwent primary operative treatment with a HA or CS.

OUTCOME MEASURES AND COMPARISONS

Mortality and reoperation rates following primary operative treatment between patients treated with either HA or CS. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were generated. Comparisons in the primary outcomes were made between the HA and CS cohorts using univariate and multivariate analyses where appropriate.

RESULTS

A total of 2211 patients were included in the study (1721 HA and 490 CS) and followed for an average of 34.5 months. The average age was 82.3 years (60-106 years), and patients were predominantly female (66.3%). One-year mortality was higher for the HA group compared with the CS group with a hazard ratio of 1.37 ( P = 0.03); however, over the lifetime of a patient or to the final follow-up, survival was not statistically significant (Relative Risk 0.95, 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.1, P = 0.97). The rate of reoperation at 1 year was lower for HA (5.0%) than for CS (10.1%) (hazard ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval, 2.1-4.34, P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with FNFx treated with HA had the same risk of mortality as those treated with CS across the lifetime of patients or until the final follow-up. There is no difference in mortality at the 30-day and 90-day time point, but there is a significant difference in mortality at 1 year. HA treatment was associated with a significantly lower reoperation risk when compared with CS across the lifetime of the patient or until the final follow-up.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic, Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Retrospective paired cohort study comparing internal fixation for undisplaced versus hemiarthroplasty for displaced femoral neck fracture in the elderly

INTRODUCTION

The debate continues regarding the best treatment for elderly patients with non-displaced femoral neck fractures (FNFs): internal fixation (IF) vs hemiarthroplasty (HA). The Aim of the present study is to compare surgical insult, mortality, complications, and walking recovery after one year in patients older than 65 treated with cannulated screws or HA for FNFs.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Match-paired comparison of retrospective cohorts: 220 non-displaced FNFs treated with cannulated screws vs 220 displaced FNFs treated with bipolar HA from 2013 to 2021. No differences were observed in age (82.1 ± 7.5 IF vs 83±6.8 HA) (p = 0.172), sex (74.6 % IF females vs 74.6 % HA females) (p = 0.912), year of intervention (p = 0.638) and ASA scale (III in 55.5 % IF vs 55.9 % HA) (IV in 21.8 % IF vs 18.2 % HA) (p = 0.726). Medical complications analyzed included respiratory and urinary infections, heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, acute digestive bleeding.

RESULTS

Lower surgical aggression in IF: surgical time (p < 0.001), hemoglobin and hematocrit decrease (p < 0.001), need for transfusion (p < 0.001), hospital stay (p < 0.001).

MORTALITY

higher in-hospital for hemiarthroplasties: 12 deaths (5.5 %) vs 1 (0.5 %) (p = 0.004) (RR=12, 1.5-91.5). No differences after 1 month (13 (6 %) in HA vs 9 (4.1 %) in cannulated screws) and 1 year (33 (15 %) in HA vs 35 (16 %) in IF). Medical complications showed no significant differences (p = 0.055).

SURGICAL COMPLICATIONS

No differences in surgical infections (5 HA (2.3 %) vs 2 IF (0.9 %);p = 0,253) or neurovascular injuries (3 HA (1,4 %) vs 2 IF (0.9 %); p = 1). HA: 10 dislocations (4.5 %), 11 periprosthetic fractures (5 %). Cannulated screws: 10 fixation failures (4.6 %), 9 non-unions (4.1 %), 16 ischemic necrosis of femoral head (7.3 %). Reoperation rate: 15/220 IF (6.8 %) and 8/220 HA (3.6 %) (p = 0.134).

FUNCTIONAL RESULTS

No differences were detected (p = 0.285): 111 osteosynthesis patients (50.45 %) and 99 HA (45 %) returned to their pre-fracture walking ability (p = 0.322). There were also no differences between groups in those patients with worsening of walking status: 108 (49 %) osteosynthesis and 118 (53,6 %) prosthesis (p = 0.412).

CONCLUSIONS

Cannulated screws in patients over 65 with non-displaced femoral neck fractures results in less surgical insult, lower in-hospital mortality, comparable medical and surgical complications, a similar re-operation rate, and functional outcomes equivalent to hemiarthroplasty.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III (retrospective comparison of matched cohorts).

Random forest predictive modeling of prolonged hospital length of stay in elderly hip fracture patients

Background

In elderly individuals suffering from hip fractures, a prolonged hospital length of stay (PLOS) not only heightens the probability of patient complications but also amplifies mortality risks. Yet, most elderly hip fracture patients present compromised baseline health conditions. Additionally, PLOS leads to increased expenses for patient treatment and care, while also diminishing hospital turnover rates. This, in turn, jeopardizes the prompt allocation of beds for urgent cases.

Methods

A retrospective study was carried out from October 2021 to November 2023 on 360 elderly hip fracture patients who underwent surgical treatment at West China Hospital. The 75th percentile of the total patient cohort's hospital stay duration, which was 12 days, was used to define prolonged hospital length of stay (PLOS). The cohort was divided into training and testing datasets with a 70:30 split. A predictive model was developed using the random forest algorithm, and its performance was validated and compared with the Lasso regression model.

Results

Out of 360 patients, 103 (28.61%) experienced PLOS. A Random Forest classification model was developed using the training dataset, identifying 10 essential variables. The Random Forest model achieved perfect performance in the training set, with an area under the curve (AUC), balanced accuracy, Kappa value, and F1 score of 1.000. In the testing set, the model's performance was assessed with an AUC of 0.846, balanced accuracy of 0.7294, Kappa value of 0.4325, and F1 score of 0.6061.

Conclusion

This study aims to develop a prognostic model for predicting delayed discharge in elderly patients with hip fractures, thereby improving the accuracy of predicting PLOS in this population. By utilizing machine learning models, clinicians can optimize the allocation of medical resources and devise effective rehabilitation strategies for geriatric hip fracture patients. Additionally, this method can potentially improve hospital bed turnover rates, providing latent benefits for the healthcare system.

Management of Garden-I and II Femoral Neck Fractures: Perspectives on Primary Arthroplasty

This review compares internal fixation versus arthroplasty in the treatment of nondisplaced femoral neck fractures (FNFs) calling attention to evolving areas of consensus that influence clinical decision-making. The Garden classification system, typically dichotomized into nondisplaced (types I and II) and displaced (types III and IV) fractures, has been used as a guide for surgical decision-making. Conventionally, treatment of nondisplaced FNF in the elderly has been with internal fixation, and treatment of a displaced FNF has been hemi-, or more recently total hip, arthroplasty. Studies over the last decade have raised concern over the appropriate treatment of nondisplaced FNFs due to high rates of reoperation of nondisplaced FNFs treated with internal fixation. Avascular necrosis (AVN), failure of internal fixation, secondary malunion, and pin/nail penetration through the femoral head have all been observed. Several studies have attributed fixation failure to a degree of femoral neck tilt ≥20°, either posteriorly or anteriorly as seen on the lateral X-ray. Because of these observations of fixation failures, the suggestion has been made that arthroplasty be used when the degree of posterior tilt exceeds a threshold of ≥20° tilt with the expectation of diminishing failure of fixation, decreasing the risk of reoperation and preserving function without increasing mortality rate. Frustrating additional analyses are uncertainties over the mechanisms of failure of internal fixation with ≥20° tilt and the persistently substantial 1-year mortality rate after FNF, which has not been influenced by fixation or replacement type. Due to the lack of consensus regarding the determination of the appropriate surgical intervention for nondisplaced FNFs, an improved algorithm for surgical decision-making for these fractures may prove useful.

Statistical fragility of randomized clinical trials pertaining to femoral neck fractures

OBJECTIVE

P values were frequently misused and misinterpreted, the fragility index (FI) has been utilized to evaluate the robustness of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as a complement to p-values. This study aimed to assess the statistical robustness of RCTs for femoral neck fractures through the utilization of the FI.

METHODS

We systematically reviewed PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase database to identify RCTs pertaining to femoral neck fractures published in the top 25 highest-impact orthopaedic journals and 4 high-impact general medical journals from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2022. The FI was calculated for the dichotomous, categorical study outcomes in the identified RCTs using the Fisher exact test, with previously published methods. Spearman correlation analyses were used to evaluate potential associated factors associated with the FI.

RESULTS

We identified 10 eligible RCTs with a median total sample size of 101 (IQR, 79.5 to 174.75) and a number of patients lost to follow-up of 19.5 (IQR, 4.5 to 28). The median FI was 3.5 (IQR, 1 to 14.25), implying that reversal of outcome in only 4 patients was sufficient to alter trial significance. The FI was less than the number of patients lost to follow-up in seven (70%) RCTs. P values were negatively associated with the FI, while the number of patients lost to follow-up and patients enroled were not statistically significantly associated with the FI.

CONCLUSIONS

The RCTs pertaining to femoral neck fractures were not as statistically robust as previously thought and should be interpreted with caution. We recommend that the orthopaedic RCT report FI as a supplement for the P values to help readers draw reliable conclusions based on the fragility of the outcomes.